Vaughn rolls with Picturehouse, New Line Int'l

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NEW YORK -- Picturehouse and New Line International have nabbed all international rights to the comedy performance documentary "Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights -- Hollywood to the Heartland."

Ari Sandel's film, produced by Vaughn, follows the actor as he leads a team of unknown comics on a monthlong tour across the U.S. In addition to showcasing stage performances with such guests as Justin Long and Dwight Yoakam, the film takes a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of Vaughn and comedians Bret Ernst, Ahmed Ahmed, Sebastian Maniscalco and John Caparulo.

The pickup comes seven months after the Weinstein Co. purchased the feature for $2.5 million-$3.5 million at the Toronto International Film Festival. After tentatively slating the film for a spring release, the company put the project back up for sale with UTA a month ago. A source close to the deal said the new purchase was slightly below $2.5 million, with a larger allocation of the money put toward marketing.

Vaughn said the only reason the film wasn't released through the Weinstein Co. was that he and the studio "had a different vision of how to market and release the film. It's a credit to Harvey Weinstein (that he) agreed to let the project go, and I'm thankful."

Vaughn said of the film: "It's a comedy, but also a road movie. It's not like a traditional film. If it hasn't been done before, how do you present it? There was no fighting or arguing -- we were just not seeing eye to eye."

Vaughn credited Weinstein Co. co-president of production Michael Cole and editor Dan Lebental for helping considerably trim the film from its initial 110-minute running time in Toronto.

Picturehouse president Bob Berney, who bid on the film in the fall, said "Wild West Comedy" will be released in limited runs around the U.S. early next year.

Peter Billingsley, John Isbell and Victoria Vaughn served as the docu's executive producers. New Line International will handle overseas distribution.

Sandel won a live-action short Academy Award this year for "West Bank Story." Vaughn's producing credits include "The Break-Up" and "Made."

The deal was negotiated for Picturehuse by senior vp acquisitions Sara Rose and for New Line by Carolyn Blackwood, exec vp business affairs and co-productions.